The Golden State offers great promise for the country when it comes to forward-thinking climate policy. Even Big Oil didn’t have the juice to stop California’s growing clean energy economy when Prop. 23 went down decisively in November. But if we want to turn this promise into reality we’ll have to navigate the challenge of the state budget crisis and identify the policy levers that will keep the ball rolling. With the eyes of the nation on California, we’ve got to get this right.

Here’s the key: We need to refine state climate and energy policies to empower California’s cities and counties, and improve local-state coordination. ICLEI has been collecting feedback from local governments across the state—on ways to simplify existing regulations, streamline permitting, provide more accurate data for climate action planning, save money, and unleash local innovation to scale energy efficiency and renewables development.

A vision is taking shape. Big cities, small towns, and counties from all corners of the state can come together to present sound policy solutions in Sacramento. Below are some of the specific ideas ICLEI has collected so far. But what’s missing? What ideas can be improved? How can we take this vision to the next level, driving local action in the real world?